Showing papers in "Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies in 1979"

Aspects of Translation Technique in Antiquity

Abstract: nec tamen exprimi verbum e verbo necesse erit, ut interpretes indiserti solent, cum sit verbum quod idem declaret magis usitatum. Horace expresses very much the same view of translation in his Ars poetica (133): nee verbo verbum eurabis reddere fidus interpres. In other words, the translator of a literary text went about his work in a manner totally different from that of the fidus interpres, the hack translator, who produced slavish renderings of legal and business documents. As Franz Blatt once observed, talking of Latin translations from Greek, "on se trouve rarement en face d'une veritable traduction prechretienne." 1 Jerome endorses the same view as Cicero and Horace in his influential letter 57, addressed to Pammachius:

A New Inscription from Aphrodisias and the Title πατὴρ τῆς πόλεως

Abstract: R EXCAVATIONS at Aphrodisias in Caria,l in particular since 1972, have revealed to the east of the Theatre a large piazza surrounded by colonnades which was remodelled at several periods. The latest phase of this piazza appears to be of the fourth or fifth century (we know from a recently discovered inscription that substantial work was done in the piazza under Julian), and several statue bases of the late Empire have been found in the area; two are in situ, and others have been found built into the Byzantine wall which blocked off the Theatre from the piazza when the acropolis was fortified. Of the two surviving bases which stood just east of the Theatre with their inscribed faces towards the piazza, one is badly damaged, but the other is almost complete, and the statue which stood on it was found beside it. This statue is about to be published,2 accompanied by a very brief note on the inscribed base. The purpose of this article is to describe and discuss this base more fully. The rectangular base of Aphrodisias marble (height 1.01 meters, width 0.48, depth 0.60) with upper and lower moulding is almost certainly reused; a half-moon, in relief, remains on the far side. The base stood, rather awkwardly, on another base cut down to receive it. The first line of the inscription is on the upper moulding. The letters, which are irregular and inelegant, average 4 em in height (PLATE 1).

Did the Athenian Ecclesia Legislate after 403/2 B.C.?

Abstract: I N AN EARLIER ARTICLE 1 I argued that nomoi were passed by the nomothetai, that nomoi superseded psephismata and that the ypac/>~ v6JLov JL~ E7TLT~SEWV BELvaL was introduced as a special type of public action against unconstitutional nomoi, whereas the ypacp~ 7Tapav6JLwv henceforth could be brought only against psephismata. But these distinctions are purely formal. I shall now turn to the crucial question: was there any difference in substance between nomoi and psephismata? and ifso, was the distinction respected by the Athenians?2 As is well known the essential difference between nomoi and psephismata is reflected in Greek legal thought and expressed by the philosophers.

How Many Pentereis

Abstract: D the course of the fourth century B.C. it is apparent that the TPt~PYJC, the virtual ship-of-the-line in naval warfare for most of the previous century, was gradually superseded as the decisive type of vessel in Mediterranean naumachiae. Although the trireme in general continued to be numerically the strongest contingent in fleets of the time, increasing use was made of the TETP~PYJC and the 7TEVT~PYJC, both of which formed significant components of victorious naval forces in the sea battles of the last quarter of the fourth century B.C. 1 According to Diodorus Siculus, the first 7TEVT~PEtC were constructed in 399/398 B.C. at the instigation of Dionysius I of Syracuse, 2 who in the following year used the first of the new-style vessels to convey his bride-to-be from her native Epizephyrian Locri. 3 The pentereis, or quinqueremes, were probably first deployed in warfare in the summer of 397 B.C. when Dionysius besieged Motya, using many ships in the proccss. 4 In the eastern Mediterranean they became increasingly more common during the latter half of the century. By the middle of the fourth century Sidon included quinqueremes in its fleet during

The Riddle of Wilamowitz’s Phaidrabild

Abstract: I N 1867 at the age of eighteen, Wilamowitz already held views on Hippolytus. 1 The play even then was a favorite. It reveals \"was der Dichter, wenn er sich zusammennahm, leisten konnte, in der That ein treffiiches Werk!\" 2 The youth sees Hippolytus as the best example for Longinus' praise of Euripides' depiction of love (Subl. 15.3), the sensual love of the southern woman, passion mixed of sorrow and joy (Hipp. 348). Odi et amo, but not the adolescent sentimentality of Romeo and Juliet. 3 The great expository scene between the Nurse and Phaedra (Hipp. 176-524) far excels its counterpart in Medea. 4 The brilliant thought and natural exposition of the scene are compared with the dialogue of Hippolytus and the aged servant (Hipp. 88ff) that so well points the grounds for Aphrodite's wrath. He refuses to condemn Hippolytus' attack on women (Hipp. 616ff): \"seine lange Diatribe gegen die Weiber, wohl das tollste, was selbst Euripides gegen sie losgelassen hat.\" 5 Hippolytus is a misogynist to begin with and has just encountered their worst possible side. And what follows is so dreadful. That Phaedra is provoked reasonably motivates her revenge. Theseus' exasperation is perfectly natural. The scene between father and son has an extraordinary effect upon the audience, who know the innocence of Hippolytus but admit that from his point of view Theseus is right. That Poseidon is caught in his own promise Wilamowitz sees as a

Homer’s Gods: A Comment on their Immortality

Abstract: A TRAIT of Homer's gods which is proclaimed in well over a hundred passages in the Iliad and the Odyssey is their im1· h 11 d '{}' )\" , , I morta lty: t ey are ca e a avaTOL, aLEV EOVTEC, atEtYEVETat. It may therefore come as somewhat of a shock to a modern reader, especially if he has been reared in the J udaeo-Christian tradition of a godhead whose immortality endures from everlasting to everlasting, whose being is so essentially immortal as to preclude even the thought of death, to find such passages as these: (1) The god Hephaestus, son of Zeus and Hera, explains that, when he was thrown from Olympus and landed in Lemnos, there was little life ({}VfL6c) left in him (Iliad 1.593) ; (2) The god Ares would have perished in his brazen prison had not Eriboea caused Hermes to set him free (Iliad 5.388-91); (3) The god Hades needed the services of Paean to cure him of a wound which had laid him low among the heaps of dead (Iliad 5.395-402) ; ( 4) Ares again, wounded by Diomed, needed the services of Paean; and the language used parallels that found in the third example (Iliad 5.899-901). One may well ask, What sort of immortality is this? Indeed, the usually prudent Willcock1 is so troubled by the second passage as to say, \"That a god could perish is carrying anthropomorphism rather far.\" It is the purpose of this note to show that, on the contrary, Homer was probably receding from a still more anthropomorphic position. Aside from the anthropologically-centered works cited below, the numerous histories and handbooks of Greek religion have, with two exceptions, little or nothing to say about the immortality of Homer's gods, which they apparently take for granted. Their indices under

How Often Did the Athenian Dicasteria Meet

Abstract: I FOURTH-CENTURY ATHENS the three principal bodies of government were the ecclesia, the boule and the dicasteria. The ecclesia was convoked forty times in a year l and the boule met every day except on ~,.dpat acp€CLp.m comprising annual festival days, and probably ~fL€paL a:7Tocppa8Ec. 2 But how often did the dicasteria meet? The only direct evidence bearing on this question is the famous passage from Aristophanes' Wasps in which Bdelycleon explains to his father that only a fraction of the revenue is paid out to the dicasts as fLLC8oc, whereas the young, smart politicians keep the lion's share (660-63).

Wilamowitz in his Last Ten Years

Abstract: I WAS NOT from my own impulse but in response to the urging of others that I have put down some impressions of Wilamowitz as they have remained in my mind. 1 Even someone more talented for vivid portraiture might be discouraged by the existence of Wilamowitz's own Erinnerungen 1848-1914 and of the few but extraordinarily brilliant pages in Karl Reinhardt's essay \"Akademisches aus zwei Epochen.\"2 My aim is far more modest and may have some justification. I am trying to supply factual information for a period of his life not covered by any coherent account and at the same time to dispel some widespread misunderstandings. As the interest in his work and personality seems as lively as ever, it is perhaps inevitable that speculation has begun to fill the gaps of available knowledge and that new material, especially in the form of recently found correspondence, is frequently misinterpreted. A subject which has never been explicitly recorded and which when alluded to in \"Prefaces\" or letters almost invariably leads to erroneous conclusions is his Graeca, the group of young scholars meeting in his home regularly during the last ten years of his life. I shall deal with it at some length as soon as I have provided the necessary background information. The law which set the age limit for professors at 68 was passed in Prussia in the very first years after it had become a republic. Wilamowitz was 70 in 1918; he continued in office until the winter of 1921/22

Molossus+Bacchius in the new Stesichorus Fragment ( P.Lille 76abc)

Abstract: T NEW POEM by Stesichorus in dactylo-epitrites presents in the epodic clausula a metrical sequence v -, which I have called molossus + bacchius, 1 a terminology which I subsequently sought to confirm and elucidate in my recent paper on the prehistory and formation of the hexameter: 2 "Resta infine la stretta concordanza con I' Erijile nel nesso v (in clausola epodica) che io ho descritto come mol + ba, lasciando aperto il problema della sua valenza temporale con ritmi trocaici e giambici. Non credo all'ipotesi avanzata da Haslam, di ravvisarvi un aristofanio con longum in luogo del biceps vv v : proprio nello stesso Stesicoro, fr.223,4 P., l'aristofanio ricorre nella forma consueta coriambo baccheo v v v -, in combinazione con l'enoplio e non in clausola strofica:

Roman Inscriptions from Aidepsos

Abstract: T MODERN CITY of Loutra Aidepsou is located at the southeastern entrance to the Bay of Yaltra in the northern part of Euboia. 1 Hotels and restaurants line the waterfront, and a few find their way up the steep hill behind the town. In the winter the site is nearly deserted, but from Easter until autumn Loutra Aidepsou is a thriving and fashionable resort and health spa, attracting people from all over Greece who come to bathe in the copious thermal springs and enjoy the benefits of pleasant scenery and good company. A new road is presently being cut across the harsh western face of Euboia, from Chalkis to Aidepsos, but until that is completed the easiest means of access, today as it must have been in antiquity, is by frequent ferry from the mainland to the west. Alternatively, the visitor can take the older highway from Chalkis across the center of the island to Cape Artemision and Orei (ancient Histiaia), approaching Aidepsos across the spurs of Mt Telethrios from the north. Most modern authorities place the ancient city at the site of the village of Lipso, some three kilometers north of Loutra Aidepsou, on a low hill at the head of a small plain where the narrow coastal band broadens into a fan. 2 Nevertheless, most of the extant archaeological evidence suggests that Aidepsos, at least in its most prosperous periods, was located at the site of the Baths. Thus, the earliest settlement, as was often the case, may well have been on the hill at Lipso, which is removed some distance from the sea. If so, the place must